CALL ME A COMMUNIST, but I’ve never been a baseball fan. The American pastime has never been exciting or particularly interesting to me. There are a couple of reasons for this: The complicated rules and slower pace made it difficult to get into as kid. Growing up in a house full of nonsports fans also didn’t help.

With a background like this, approaching a game such 2K Sports’ “Major League Baseball 2K7” is an intimidating prospect.

The simulation isn’t newbie-friendly. If you know what a break point or fielder’s choice is, you’d probably have no trouble understanding this title. But if you’re like me, playing this game will be a hardship — but it’s also one of the best ways to learn about the sport.

Confused? Well, I was, too. “MLB 2K7” is different from, say, the baseball in “Wii Sports” because the former explores the nitty-gritty of the game. Everything from the players’ batting stances to the ramps and hallways of each ballpark is represented.

And it’s apparent from the opening at-bat that playing video-game baseball is just as difficult as the real sport. Take pitching, for example. When I first threw to the plate, I was shelled, losing by nine runs before I turned off the Xbox 360. Not sure what I was doing wrong, I consulted the thin manual and learned about strike zones and control.

But that got me only so far. I still didn’t know about break points or when to throw what pitch. It wasn’t until I asked baseball fans that I learned what the sport is really about — strategy.

For example, a co-worker told me that I was supposed to conserve a pitcher’s energy by laying off the scrubs of the order and saving my best throws for the heavy hitters. When it comes to batting, some players are built to blast home runs and others just need to get on base.

I used these tips in the same way players would enter cheat codes. The best part? These tactics worked. I played as the Los Angeles Angels, and the advice helped me get my first win on a three-run homer by Vladimir Guerrero in the 10th inning.

This give-and-take between seasoned fan and clueless novice is part of baseball’s appeal. The sport isn’t just entertainment; it’s a group experience, a fellowship among aficionados. And “MLB 2K7” is a door to that community.

On the other hand, Sony’s “MotorStorm” for the PlayStation 3 is geared toward the more casual player. More focused on the thrill of speed, it eschews the technical dos and don’ts of the road.

To put it in another way, “MotorStorm” is NASCAR for hippies.

It’s a game built around a fictional festival that’s a cross between Burning Man, the anti-establishment event in the Nevada desert, and the Daytona 500, the Super Bowl of stock car racing.

The premise is that every few years, various off-road fans gather to compete in the MotorStorm Festival in Monument Valley. As a participant, players will have to control seven different vehicles through a series of races set in the ruts and peaks of this wasteland. They’ll maneuver dirt buggies, haul big rigs through narrow passes and speed across the top of a plateaus.

For all its dirt and mud, “MotorStorm” shares a lot in common with the sleek futuristic racer “Wipeout.” Each track has multiple routes that are accessible by certain vehicles (smaller dirt bikes aim for the high road while larger cars hit the low one). In addition, you have the opportunity to destroy your rivals by punching them off their vehicle a la “Road Rash” or by ramming them into boulders or ravines.

The resulting explosions are as eye-catching as the scenery. Make no mistake about it, “MotorStorm” is a beautiful game. It’s the best-looking game on the system with destructible environments. Graphics like these do take time to load; that’s the biggest drawback of the title. The races are fun and gorgeous but they take forever to come together onscreen.

As for the online component, races suffer from the same load time problems as the single-player mode. But with the option to challenge 12 players, the stat keeping and, of course, the free online play, it’s a detriment that can be overlooked.

Gieson Cacho is a Times copy editor. Reach him at 925-943-8313 or gcacho@cctimes.

More in News

Thirty-six people — musicians, artists, students, lovers and friends — lost their lives on Dec. 2, 2016, in the fire that consumed the Oakland warehouse known as the “Ghost Ship.” Here are their stories.

A long-awaited plan to keep the Raiders in Oakland was announced late Friday by city and council officials. It includes a public investment of $350 million, pegged to the value of the Coliseum land and infrastructure improvements.